Long-Term Effects Of Solitary Confinement

Published: October 15, 2006

To the Editor:

Re ''A Cell of One's Own,'' by Sol Wachtler (Op-Ed, Sept. 24):

My best friend spent seven consecutive years in solitary confinement in cells as small as 3 by 6 feet. His description: ''Imagine that someone locked you in your bathroom and left you there for seven years.'' Released with no education, job skills or treatment for alcoholism, he suffers from depression and post-traumatic stress and would be nonfunctional without the help of devoted friends.

No one would lock a dog in a small, windowless box, surround it with bizarre sounds, feed it through a slot, allow no human contact and then expect it to behave normally. Yet we do this routinely to human beings. We exacerbate the problems of the already mentally ill and create illness in those who were not sick.

People involved in the process of sentencing and incarcerating other human beings should be required as part of their professional training to experience time in a solitary confinement cell.